Elijah Hadley was sitting on the porch of his home, watching the gathering darkness and admiring the needle of light coming from the Evening Star. His family’s property had shrunk since his grandsire’s time, due to unfortunate investments by his father, as well as his father’s unfortunate habit, and no longer was he the first citizen of the small town, descendant of the founder that he was. But he still had a small spread, and grew just enough tobacco to support himself. And then…

And then came a high pitched whistling noise from high above. Elijah ran out to look at what was making the sound, and saw another star, even brighter than the Evening Star, high above. Even as he watched the light brightened and moved in the sky, to fall into his tobacco field with a loud report. Elijah waited a moment in the sudden stillness, then walked over to the place the prodigy had fallen.

When he arrived, he saw that a excavation had been dug in the soil of the field and several tobacco plants pulverized, giving off an odd smell. He saw, lying in the depression, a white globe, about a foot across. It turned out to be quite light in weight for its size, and he easily picked it up and carried it into his home.

In the parlor, he could see, where the globe reflected the light of his lantern, a pearly play of colors in the gleam. He decided to put the globe in the parlor by the side of the entrance..

***

The following Sabbath, as was his habit, Elijah’s cousin Jeremiah came calling. Each hardily greeted the other, and Elijah escorted Jeremiah into the parlor. Elijah took the lead in small talk, covertly glancing at Jeremiah as that worthy, in turn, glanced at the round stone. Finally, Jeremiah looked straight at Elijah and queried “What is that thing doing next to the door?”

“Ah, a beauty, isn’t she”

“yes, but why is it not in your arms locker?”

“My word, Jeremiah, why would I put it there?”

“Is that not the proper place for a pistol?’

“The proper place for a pistol, perhaps, but not for such a great gem as that!”

“And what is so special about this particular weapon?”

“What, pray tell, do you mean weapon? Should I bash some unfortunate in the head with it?”

“More like shoot some unfortunate!”

“I say, do you consider that a gun?” asked Elijah, pointing to the sphere.

“Certainly, for that is what it is!”

“You say I cannot tell a stone ball from a gun?”

“Do you mock me, cousin?”

“Rather it is I who am being mocked. Cease and desist this tomfoolery!”

“Have you taken to drink?”

“You know full well I have not. I saw with father where that leads.”

"Then stop speaking like a drunkard!”

“I AM NO DRUNKARD!”

“AND I AM NO FOOL NOT TO RECOGNIZE A DUELING PISTOL!”

Elijah swung at his cousin, bloodying his nose. Jeremiah returned with a stroke into Elijah’s eye.

“Enough. I will take this to Mr. Qualtrough. He will confirm the nature of this device.” said Jeremiah, and picked up the gun, for he had no wish for his cousin to have hold of it in his present state.

*

John Qualtrough answered the summons on his door and gazed at the two men, one still daubing a bloody nose and the other with a district discoloration about the eye. The man with the bloody nose held a butter churn to his side.

“Forgive me for disturbing you, John, but a most peculiar matter has come up between us. Could you tell me whether this object I hold is a rock or a pistol?”

“It is neither. It is a butter churn, obviously.”

“BUTTER CHURN! OBVIOUSLY IT IS A PISTOL!”

“NO, IT IS A SPHERE OF STONE!”

“You are sadly deluded, if either of you believe that, or think that I would find it amusing.”

“IT IS A PISTOL!”

“Cease. I will confirm what it is. ANNA, COME OUT FOR A MOMENT!”

A stout woman came out the door and John asked “Anna, what is this man holding?”

“Well, it seems strange that he is holding such a thing. Perhaps he should take it to a furrier?”

“Yes, dear that would be - a furrier?”

“Of course, what else would one do with a dead otter?” inquired Anna.
The three men looked at Anna with puzzlement, then John said “Yes, I believe that is what I would do. May I have possession of this encumbrance of yours?”

“Why Mr. Qualtrough, you did yeoman’s work in helping secure my election. Surely I can spare a few minutes of such a benefactor. But what is your peculiar request?”

“I left an object at the door. I would like to bring it in and ask your opinion of its nature.”

“Very well, let me see this object.”

Qualtrough went out the door and returned with something in his hands

“I can relieve your curiosity, my good man. You are holding a cuspidor.”

“Mr. President, I give you my word of honor that this is a hammer.”

“Is this some tasteless joke?”

“No, Mr. President. Let me explain. Last autumn, according to a neighbor of mine, a stone, white and round as a globe, crashed into his tobacco field.. It had fallen from the sky in a streak of light. He took this prodigy into his house as a remembrance. A short time later, his cousin visited him and asked why he had a pistol laying on the floor. The man insisted it was a round stone which fell from the sky. The man and his cousin got into an altercation over this, and soon came fisticuffs. Not being able to resolve the dispute by this means, they came to me, as a leading man of the community, to decide the dispute between them. I informed them that they were either jesters of fools, as anyone could see that they had a butter churn. They each vehemently defended their identification of thaw object, so I called my good wife and showed it to her. She enquired why the men were carrying around a dead otter. Having business here in the Capitol, I thought it would be prudent to bring the matter to your attention. I fear the item is bewitched”

“I see. Well, I am a man of some small intellect and education, and I do not truck with such superstitions as witchcraft and things, stones or cuspidors, falling from the sky. Mr. Qualtrough, if this is a jest I shall be most annoyed and it will not go well with you. Summon my daughter.”

As Martha entered the Oval Office, she made a grimace at the item. “Oh father, why have you brought such a disgusting thing into the White House? It shall make a dreadful mess to clean up.”

“Do not worry, Martha, no one will use it, and if they do I am sure their aim will be well and good.”

“Use it? What would one use that for?”

“Daughter, could you describe this item?”

“Why, it is a rotting log, covered with mushrooms and dirt.”

“I see. You may return to your room, dear.”

President Jefferson turned to Mr. Qualtrough when she left. “I apologize for doubting you, that is a most peculiar item. What are we to do with it?”

“Mr. President I fear a plague of madness if such a thing become well know. My grandmother’s grandfather fled such madness in Salem. I submit that it be hidden away and only the wisest and soberest be allowed to study it. Until its nature is understood, it should not become general knowledge.”

“You may be right at that, Mr. Qualtrough. It may be necessary to hold this object in secrecy, to prevent such an unfortunate mania. I shall see to it at once."

Hello! Please create a sandbox for your draft and link to the sandbox in the original post. Thank you! ~Decibelle

It's a serviceable tale, but nothing I'd upvote as-is. The tone is quite wonky at times, it's entirely underwhelming as a Foundation creation tale (particularly emphasised by the bum note it ends on) and none of the characters seem to have anything beyond the surface. The tale never strays from the obvious track it takes in the first segment. I get the distinct impression this was all written at once, possibly within the forum post (as Decibelle says in her edit, you should get a sandbox to link to, not post tales directly into forums). You're not a bad writer, but this needs a lot of work.

Spelling, grammar, etc

“Ah, a beauty, isn’t she” -> “Ah, a beauty, isn’t she?”

“yes, but why is it not in your arms locker?” -> “Yes, but why is it not in your arms locker?”

“What, pray tell, do you mean weapon?" -> “What, pray tell, do you mean by weapon?" or “What do you mean, "weapon"?"

"the other with a district discoloration about the eye" -> "the other with a distinct discoloration about the eye"?

"crashed into his tobacco field.." -> "crashed into his tobacco field."

"Mr. President I fear a" -> "Mr. President, I fear a"

" if such a thing become well know" -> " if such a thing become well known"

Other

He decided to put the globe in the parlor by the side of the entrance..

Decide whether you want this to be a period or an ellipse.

Elijah took the lead in small talk, covertly glancing at Jeremiah as that worthy, in turn, glanced at the round stone

This sentence is a mess - I simply can't parse it. Reword it more clearly or remove entirely.

Cease and desist this tomfoolery!

I get that you're trying to use the language of the period (small details like "grandsire" are nice), but often, especially with your dialogue, it comes across as silly and takes away from the tone.

You use *** as a separator at one point and just * at another. Decide on one (or use —— to make a separating line).

You need a separator here.

“No, Mr. President. Let me explain. Last autumn, according to a neighbor of mine, a stone, white and round as a globe, crashed into his tobacco field.. It had fallen from the sky in a streak of light. He took this prodigy into his house as a remembrance. A short time later, his cousin visited him and asked why he had a pistol laying on the floor. The man insisted it was a round stone which fell from the sky. The man and his cousin got into an altercation over this, and soon came fisticuffs. Not being able to resolve the dispute by this means, they came to me, as a leading man of the community, to decide the dispute between them. I informed them that they were either jesters of fools, as anyone could see that they had a butter churn. They each vehemently defended their identification of thaw object, so I called my good wife and showed it to her. She enquired why the men were carrying around a dead otter. Having business here in the Capitol, I thought it would be prudent to bring the matter to your attention. I fear the item is bewitched”

Big looooong recap of what we've already seen. You could easily cut this or cut the preceding segments of the tale.

Very nitpicky, but: The way Jefferson talks about his daughter (summoning/dismissing her on a whim) combined with the dialogue she's given make her seem quite young - Martha Jefferson would have been 34 in 1806.